I'm thinking this might be a new PerfectWave DAC MK III with DSD capabilities that can stream over a network. In an email exchange with them a year or so ago they said that one was in the works.

Today I listened to DSD files playing through the AURALiC VEGA DAC and it is the best digital I've heard to date.

Of course they were hooked up to a pair of Rogue Audio Apollo Mono Blocks, Vandersteen 5aCarbon Speakers, Shunyata Triton/Typhon Power Distributor and all cables were Shunyata's garden hose sized ΞTRON cables.

Me and my son were drooling for a half hour or so, but when we got home and played our new records through our little Decware, Omega and Rega kit (at a fraction of the cost) we were almost there.

My point is that the DSD itself was awesome ... I really liked that DAC A LOT! And other than the PWD MK II it's the first DAC (that I've heard) that I liked better than the Rega DAC I have (there's something about that little Rega DAC that's very musical to me, but I can see DSD in my future ... I'm hoping this format catches on more predominantly).

Well, Paul has been talking about the digital lens for a while...judging from what you just said, Lon, I guess they never had it out, or incorporated into any gear?

From what Paul's said in his little blog, he made it sound like the gear has had this feature for years, or maybe *could have* had it.

Regardless, I don't think you could do the lens by itself, it sounded like the lens was *part* of the DAC, the final step before it goes analog in fact.

That said, Paul mentioned that if listening to different sources sounded *different* (same source media, just different "source"), then maybe he'd have to investigate further, and he might have to delay the release of the new product - or at least hinted at that. If the digital lens were working perfectly, the media file from USB, HDMI, NAS, whatever, should all sound exactly the same - but it's not.

Paul was involved in that. It could easily be put out as a standalone product and he has said that he intends to but it hasn't. Instead it was incorporated into the PerfectWave Transport and then into the Mark II version of the PerfectWave DAC--just the jitter elimination aspect, not the "resolution enhancement" function. It makes a noticeable difference and is a big reason why I bought the PWT and PWD combo and then upgraded to the Mark II version (and then bought another Duo for my second system. It's not going to make "all formats sound the same" but it does reduce jitter tremendously and does make digital sound wonderful.

When the Genesis Technology items come up for sale they disappear in a heartbeat. One of the Decware forum demigods Randy in Caintuck used one forever and a day and probably still does, probably will have to pry it from his cold dead hands. I don't need one as I have the Duo, but a stand-alone Lens would be an excellent prodcut to come out with for PS Audio.

It would be a revelation to hear SS component sound as good TO ME as a well made tubed component. I am impressed however, with how good some of the SS equipment does sound. Wonder if Paul would ever go to a hybred concept.

LR said,Yeah, if that "more than the P10" thing is to be believed...ouch that hurts.

I'd really like to see what they next step is. Maybe CD Transport/DAC/Digital Lens in one - if it was a universal Disc player like my Oppo, I'd seriously consider it!

Yes, a Universal Disc Player/DAC/Digital Lens all in one would certainly be a great product. I just couldn't see paying $5000 for a CD player this day and age, or a company putting that much effort for a stand alone CD player since the sales of CD's have steadily declined since late 2000.

Although I know there are probably a lot of guys that still use CD's, but I'm not one of them. Besides about 50 CD's, I'm all about vinyl and hi-res digital downloads ... I just skipped over the CD phase altogether.

What sounds interesting and coming up is the HDMI DACs that are able to de-embed the uncompressed LPCM 24.96K as 2.0, 5.1, or 7.1 soundtracks, ‘derived’ from the DTS MasterHD soundtrack but not requiring DTS decoding (which is essentially hi-res PCM). DACs like the HDACC HDMI/USB DAC can do this, as well as the Oppo with some tweaking in the settings.

Yes, a Universal Disc Player/DAC/Digital Lens all in one would certainly be a great product. I just couldn't see paying $5000 for a CD player this day and age, or a company putting that much effort for a stand alone CD player since the sales of CD's have steadily declined since late 2000.

Although I know there are probably a lot of guys that still use CD's, but I'm not one of them. Besides about 50 CD's, I'm all about vinyl and hi-res digital downloads ... I just skipped over the CD phase altogether.

I hear you. It better not be a CDP. What would they say to all the PWT/PWD owners out there?

All I have ever known are CDs. I ditched tapes a while ago, and I have never owned a record. Sad, I know.

Universal Music Group has gone back to the original master tapes to deliver fully uncompressed, high-resolution versions of many of your favorite albums on Blu-ray Pure Audio Disc. Mastered at 24bit/96kHz, Blu-ray Pure Audio Discs deliver the sound the artists originally heard in the studio when these classic albums were recorded. These discs provide all the recorded musical information. While convenient due to their small file size, today’s heavily compressed music files do not represent the true fidelity of the original album.

• Recordings are transferred from the original master tapes and delivered in high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz audio

• No compression is utilized, and the sound quality is vastly superior to MP3 or standard CD

Audio is taken from the original master tapes and mastered in 24-bit/96kHz resolution with a choice of three sound formats: PCM, Dolby True HD, or DTS-HD Master Audio. You can finally enjoy the music in the fidelity originally experienced in the studio.

I have three of these Pure Music Blu-Ray Audio discs. The John Coltrane, the Miles Davis and the Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald. They sound pretty good. . . but the SACD of A Love Supreme (either one) sounds better imo for example, so I'm not exactly bowled over.

Lon said,I have three of these Pure Music Blu-Ray Audio discs. The John Coltrane, the Miles Davis and the Louis Armstrong/Ella Fitzgerald. They sound pretty good. . . but the SACD of A Love Supreme (either one) sounds better imo for example, so I'm not exactly bowled over.

It's all about the mastering, and some of these aren't exceptional.

Hi Lon, what are using to decode them? Its my understanding that not every Blu-Ray can play these (although I could be wrong on that).

You're not right there, they are made to play in any Blu-ray player, or at least they play in my US region player. I am using a Denon DCD-A100.

The only thing really special about them is that they can be played and started easily without a monitor.

It's all about the mastering. The three that I have sound pretty darned good, but as I say I think one of the SACDs is better for the Coltrane. Though the price for both are about the same, and the Blu-ray does have additional material (which I also have in Redbook). Overall this has led me to the conclusion that SACD may offer better sound, at least in my system (though both the Blu-ray player and the SACD player in the system are Denon 100th Anniversary products and excellent, the SACD is more a dedicated and less a universal player, and I think has a better analog output section) but I would need more comparisons to be definitive. I somehow don't think they will be releasing a lot of jazz titles in this series, and so I'm not really that excited. . . that is the genre I buy the most of.

Had a brief discussion with a friend regarding the PS Audio announcement and we think it could be the PS Audio PerfectWave Master Clock.

-Master Clocks exist as a product category (typically with very high end digital front ends or studio equipment (e.g. Apogee Big Ben)-The clock would be a PW line extension and wouldn’t replace either the PW Transport or DAC.-Previous claims made about master clocks include improved imaging, better resolution of detail and music with more control, authority and power-There has been a lot of discussion about timing and jitter on the PS Audio forums that could indicate a new device that offers significant improvement in this area

Lon said,You're not right there, they are made to play in any Blu-ray player, or at least they play in my US region player. I am using a Denon DCD-A100.

The only thing really special about them is that they can be played and started easily without a monitor.

Yes you're right there ... any Blu-Ray player can play them, but only players with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio can decode the true hi-res Master Tape Soundtracks buried within the disc. I'm not sure if these are standard formats on most players at this point in time or not.

But I wholly agree about the Mastering making all the difference though.

Posted by: Dave1210 Posted on: Today at 11:42:07Had a brief discussion with a friend regarding the PS Audio announcement and we think it could be the PS Audio PerfectWave Master Clock.

-Master Clocks exist as a product category (typically with very high end digital front ends or studio equipment (e.g. Apogee Big Ben)-The clock would be a PW line extension and wouldn’t replace either the PW Transport or DAC.-Previous claims made about master clocks include improved imaging, better resolution of detail and music with more control, authority and power-There has been a lot of discussion about timing and jitter on the PS Audio forums that could indicate a new device that offers significant improvement in this area

Yes you're right there ... any Blu-Ray player can play them, but only players with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio can decode the true hi-res Master Tape Soundtracks buried within the disc. I'm not sure if these are standard formats on most players at this point in time or not.

But I wholly agree about the Mastering making all the difference though.

But they all have an uncompressed PCM track that all players should be able to decode. And very few of these have 5.1 tracks, and not any I would buy, and I don't do 5.1 anyway.

This is probably "it". . . so why all the secrecy? A bit under-whelming, as far as revelations go. . . we'll see. Could potentially be improved sound. But I'm not going to pay 6 large for this after buying two PWDs. If there's a PWD upgrade, I'd strongly consider at a good price.

Thanks for posting that Lon. Unique concept, but 5K for new or 3K for an upgrade is a lot of coin. I'm actually ok with what I have as well (for now ). Cool concept though, hopefully he'll drop the price on these in a couple of years or run some specials every once in a while for those who want to upgrade.

Interestingly enough used PWD MK IIs are just starting to come down to price levels that a poor guy like me can start to afford and we may see a lot more of these coming into the used market from all the guys who are going to upgrade. But a PWD MK II still doesn't do DSD, so I'm going to have to move on as I want to explore that a bit more.

Yeah, I really don't have much interest in DSD as in files, but I can see how this MAY be a nice step forward in sonics for my disc sources (love my PWT). As you say, it might come down, there may be specials etc. We'll see, and we'll see reviews, and I agree, more used PWD IIs.

Well, I guess I'm not going to jump on that bandwagon. If PSA did something like my Oppo, I'd be all over it. While I really do enjoy the sound of DSD, I'm not sure I enjoy it $6k worth (or whatever street price or "open box" price I can get it at).

I'd rather just put a Decware preamp in my chain and see if that gives my current files the air that DSD seems to bring.

I don't think I am going to be an early adopter on this one. I also find it hard to believe that this will replace the PW DAC in the product line but maybe I am wrong. The NuWave DAC is at the $1000 price point and the DSD DAC jumps to $6000. I think a price drop on the PW DAC might make sense. 1000, 3,500, 6000 to have a nice 3 product good , better, best lineup.

I don't do youtube, but I've been reading up on the product on the PS Audio forum, and it is interesting.

I made a mistake in building up a second system this last year that I am unlikely to use (as it seems I'm stuck in my caregiving role for ever and a day and I don't spend any quality time at my place). Had I not, I could afford a ZMA (with some sort of treble correction somehow) and an upgrade to the new PS Audio thing. Ah well, I have killer sound now, and I may be able to do these things in the future. Plus, I've been burned being an early adopter before, better to wait a bit.

It seems that PS Audio better hope that not all all of us on the Decware site are in an age group that may cause us to not hear all of these wonderful details in the equipment they are producing! I know I'm getting closer everyday that goes by. I guess it could become like some other things in life its the thought that counts anyway! Ha Ha! But until then keep on spinning them and enjoy!